Marion County top earners in 2018 from courts, prosecutor's office

Firefighters and police officers were some of the top earners in the city last year.(Photo: Gettyimages)

MARION — Two county employees were paid over $100,000 out of county coffers last year, but they weren't the only ones to earn six figures.

Marion County's top earners in 2018 were department heads, directors and elected officials, but also a former assistant prosecutor who cashed in his unused vacation time, according to payroll records obtained from the Marion County Auditor's Office through a public records request.

Marion County Prosecutor Ray Grogan was the top earner in 2018, making $133,941, according to the auditor's payroll records.

Grogan's salary is set by the Ohio legislature, which approved in its 2016-17 budget bill 5 percent raises for county prosecutors — as well as judges and sheriffs — every year for four years, according to the Ohio Legislative Service Commission.

"The job of county prosecutor is a 24/7 job," Grogan told the Star in an interview. "I take phone calls in the evening. I take phone calls on the weekends. ... There are times that I assist law enforcement not just by phone calls, but by coming into the office or meeting with law enforcement at the police department on the weekends or after normal business hours."

Though Grogan's pay was the highest taken out of county coffers, there were county officials who made more than him in 2018.

Marion County Common Pleas Judges Deborah Alspach, William Finnegan, Robert Fragale and Jim Slagle each had a salary of $140,550 last year, most of which was picked up by the state, according to pay tables from the County Commissioners Association of Ohio. The county paid about $11,970 of each judge's salary, according to payroll records.

Many of the top earners' salaries were set by people outside of Marion, at the Ohio Statehouse.

The Ohio Constitution requires the Ohio legislature to fix public officers' compensation. Besides Grogan and the judges, state legislators also set the salaries of Marion County Engineer Brad Irons, who earned $99,417, and Marion County Sheriff Tim Bailey, who earned $80,307 last year.

Brad Irons(Photo: Submitted)

Irons was the fourth highest earner on the list, not including the county judges. Bailey was the 13th highest earner.

In the No. 2 spot was Cheryl Plaster, superintendent of the Marion County Board of Developmental Disabilities, who earned $112,235 in gross pay.

Typically, about 70 to 75 percent of her salary is reimbursed by the federal government, Plaster told the Star. She said her agency also receives state subsidies to put toward employee salaries. In 2018, the board received a little over $136,000 in such subsidies, she said.

Plaster said her position is not meant to be compared to other Marion County departments, but rather to other county boards of developmental disabilities in Ohio. She said she receives a salary comparable to that of similar positions and pointed to her seniority and educational requirements for the job, including a master's degree and a superintendent's license.

Cheryl Plaster(Photo: Submitted)

Plaster has worked with children and adults with developmental disabilities for nearly 25 years, since she started with the county board of developmental disabilities in 1993. She was named superintendent in 2011.

Though Nancy Richards, the executive director of the Clearwater Council of Governments, which was formed by a group of county boards of developmental disability, has the third highest salary on the list, her salary is not paid solely by county tax dollars. Rather, the county serves as the keeper of the Clearwater COG's funds, Plaster said.

"It covers nine counties, and Marion County DD was selected to do their payroll for them," Plaster said. "It's not the county's money. It's the COG's money."

The agency has nine member county boards of developmental disabilities, including the Marion County board, and may perform the same functions that a developmental disabilities board can, but for multiple county boards.

The fifth highest earner was Marion County Common Pleas Magistrate David Reed, who made $98,342, according to payroll records.

The sixth highest earner was David Stamolis, counsel for the Marion County Commissioners, with $96,470.

Stamolis left the Marion County Prosecutor's Office in late 2018 and started working as counsel for the Marion County Commissioners. With that move from one department to another, he had to cash in his unused vacation time, which bumped his salary up by around $12,500, Grogan said.